Cleaning and plating apparatus



a. w. SCHWEIHSBERG.

CLEANING AND PLATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18, 1919.

Patentedsept. 12, 1922,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR Anon/115w Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHQE.

GEORGE W. SCHWEINSBERG, 0F BROOKLYN, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO U. S. ELECTED GALVANIZING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

CLEANING AND PLATING- APPARATUS.

Application filed February 18, 1919. Serial No, 277,773.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE W. SoHwEINs- BERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Cleaning and Plating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electroplating apparatus and particularly to such apparatus for use with pipes or bars. The object of the invention is to provide apparatus for preparing and plating the articles in continuous sequence and without intermediate handling by workmen.

.A further object ofthe invention is to provide intermediate apparatus to automatically clean and drain the articles as fast as they are received from the first operation and to maintain a continuous supply to the plating means.

A further object of the invention is to make the apparatus compact in length so as to economize floor space.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figs. 1 and 2 are a plan view and a side elevation respectively, of the preparatory and washing apparatus, and

Figs. 1 and 2 are a plan view and side elevation respectively, of the remainder of the apparatus for plating and finally washing the articles.

In the apparatus shown in the drawings and illustrating one' embodiment of the invention, 5 is a feed table on which the pipes or bars to be treated are placed. The articles roll down the incline of table 5 against the intermittent feed pawl 6 fastened on the oscillating shaft rod 7 Fingers 9 of pawls 6 are in the path of the pusher arms 10 of the conveyor chains 11 so that each pair of .arms as they engage the fingers 9 tip the pawls to feed one pipe to the machine and hold the remainder back. Each pipe rolls down on tracks 12 in tank 13 and is then pushed along by the conveyor arm 10 behind it through the liquid inthe tank and up out of the tank in the' other end. The liquid in the tank 13 is a cleaning electrolyte solution and the tracks comprise conducting material forming cathode bars, the anodes being provided by horizontal plates 17 in the liquid; and the pipes passing through the solution are electrolytically cleaned the current passing from battery I) through wires or to the bus bars of the anodes 17 and thence through the solution to the pipes and then to the tracks 12 and back by wires w to the battery 6. With such apparatus the electrolyte may be readily changed into a plating bath by adding a plating salt so that the solution will be a combined cleaning and plating electrolyte and the pipes 18 may be added wherein a fluid circulates to maintain the electrolyte at a most eflicient temperature.

The pipes are discharged from this preparatory treatment down incline 19 onto the conveyor belts Or chains 20 of drain table 21, the moving pipes being close together and tipped by arranging one belt to be higher than the other to permit the electrolyte to readily run out. The conveyor 20 preferably is slow enough in its travel to hold the pipes in contact and so that they do not roll and the draining is thus made more thorough anddthe length of the draining table shortene After this draining the pipes pass on by gravity down incline 25 onto curved tracks 26 into wash tank 27 containing water to remove the electrolyte. From these tracks the pipes are carried backward and up by the hook members 30 fastened to shaft 31 rotating clockwise (Fig. 2) in timed relation to the conveyor chains 11. Each of these members as its end 33 rises above the incline 25 picks up the pipes from track 26, drains them and then as the hookreaches the position shown in Fig. 2, causes them to pass down on to the incline 35, which may lead to a second and similar wash tank in case the washing is not completed or may, as shown, lead directly to the tracks of the final plating tank 41. The tank 41 has a conveyor chain 42 with arms 43 operating in a manner similar to the conveyor of the first tank 13 and at the entrance of the tank is an intermittent feed pawl 45 operated by the arms 43 to feed in the pipes one by one between the arms. The pipes are then carried down tracks 40 through the tank and up at the discharge end and onto the conveyor belts or chains of the drain table 51, where they are drained and passed on to incline and tracks 56 in wash tank 47, these draining and washing means being in all respects similar to those between the tanks 13 and.

41, discharging the pipes finally in fully completed and cleaned condition onto the discharge incline 58.

The conveying means through the machine are chain driven from shaft 31 by connecting chains and sprockets as shown. The draining tables 21 and 51 are provided with gutters 59 leading the drained liquid back into the preceding tanks. In the apparatus of this invention the pipes are carried through the. cleaning and plating liquids separated but in close sequence, as contact between the pipes during these operations is highly undesirable. During the draining and washing operations however, the pipes are closely spaced and permitted to come in contact so that alarge number of pipes can be simultaneously drained and washed and the draining and washing mechanism is reduced in length. Further reduction of the length of this mechanism is attained by the reverse feeding of the washed pipes by the arms 30, which lift the pipes backward out of the wash tank 27 and drain'them above it, so there are two levels in the same vertical plane, a lower wash level and an upper draining level. The unitary drive for the conveying means throughout the machine permits the diiierent conveyors to be properly timed to efiect the desired spacing of the pipe throughout the cleaning, draining, washing and plating operations, and the various elements of the machine cooperate together to effect a continuous uninterrupted handling of the material, which is simply fed in on entrance table 5 and removed from the discharge incline 58.

I claim 1. In cleaning and plating apparatus the combination with a cleaning tank and a plating tank, of tracks passing therethrough and adapted to conduct electric current from the articles being treated in one of said tanks,

means for supplying current to the electrolyte, and means for automatically carrying the articles through said tanks along said tracks.

2. In cleaning and plating apparatus the combmation with a cleaning tank and a plating tank, of tracks passing therethrough and adapted to conduct electric current from the articles being treated in one of said tanks, means for supplying current to the electrolyte, means 'for automatically carrying the articles through said tanks along said tracks, and means for automatically draining and washing'the articles between said tanks.

3. In cleaning and plating apparatus the combination with a cleaning tank and a plating tank, of tracks passing therethrough and adapted to conduct electric current from the articles being treated, of means for supplying current to the electrolyte, means for automatically carrying the articles through masses said tanks along said tracks, and means for automatically draining and washing the articles between said tanks.

a. In cleaning and plating apparatus the combination with a cleaning tank and a platin tank, of tracks passing therethrough and a apted to conduct electric current from the articles being treated, of means for supplying current to the electrolyte, means for automaticall carrying the articles throu h said tanks a ong said tracks, and means or carrying the articles through said tanks.

along said tracks, and means for draining and washing the articles between said tanks comprising means for reversing the direction of travel of said articles.

6. In cleaning and plating apparatus, the combination with a cleaning tank and a plating tank of tracks passing therethrough and adapted to conduct electric current from the articles being treated of means for supplying current to the electrolyte, means for carrymg the articles through said tanks along said tracks, and means for draining and washing thearticles between said tanks comprising means for more closely spacing the articles during .the draining and washing operations, and means for reversing the direction of travel of said articles- 7. In'cleaning and plating apparatus, the combination with a cleaning tank and a platin tank of tracks passing therethrough and adapted to conduct electrlc current from the articles being treated, of means for supplying current to the electrolyte, means for carrying the articles through said tanks along said tracks, and means for draining and washing the articles between said tanks, comprising means for immersing the drained pipes in water in tilted position and means for raising said pipes from the water in similar tilted position.

8. In apparatus for cleaning pipes, the

said tank and means for lifting the pipes out of said tank comprising a rotatable arm member adapted to raise and drain the pipes above said tank.

moving said articles along said tracks in an opposite direction.

12. In apparatus for cleaning articles the .combination with a washing tank of means for feeding articles into the liquid in said tank and means for draining said articles in a position vertically above their position in said li uid.

13. n apparatus for cleaning articles the combination with a washing tank of means for feeding articles into the liquid in said tank and means for draining said articles in aposition vertically above their position in said liquid, comprising suitable lifting arms raising the articles above said tank.

14. In apparatus for treating articles the combination with a plurality'ot' tanks, of means for automatically conveying the articles through said tanks, and intermediate treating means between said tanks comprisin means for conveying said articles at a di erent rate of travel from that of said first named conveying means.

15. In apparatus for treating articles the combination with a plurality of tanks, of means for automatically conveying-the articles through said tanks, and intermediate treating means between said tanks comprising means for varying the spacing of said articles with relation to each other.

16. In apparatus for treating articles the combination with a plurality of tanks. of means for automatically conveying the articles through said tanks, and intermediate treating means between said tanks comprising means for temporarily arresting the travel of said articles.

17. In apparatus for chemically treating a series of articles, the combinationwith a tank of supporting means guiding the article in and out of said tank at the ends and having its intermediate portion inclined downward in the direction of movement of the articles to gradually immerse the article within a liquid in the tank, and means for moving the article along said supporting means.

onorien w. SCHWEINSBERG. 

